Recently I came across a post from a guitarist who has been suffering from a compressed ulnar nerve. This reminded me of something that I have been through. A period of time when I was unable to play the guitar at all.

The Thief

About 15 yrs ago my main guitar, a handmade slim line classical, electro/acoustic guitar but with a full-width neck, and string spacing, was stolen. It was devastating for me. Of course, I had to replace this ASAP. I had a lot of work at the time and needed something as close as possible to this rare handmade guitar as I could get. Unfortunately for me, I would have had to wait two years to have another made. So I was forced to choose a production line instrument.

New Guitar

I chose a Godin Multiac. I knew it had a slightly longer and less comfortable neck but had no idea how profoundly that was going to affect me. After six months or so of struggling with this instrument, my left-hand fingers (fretting hand) were starting to become disobedient in very strange ways. Playing was becoming much more difficult and my endurance was becoming shorter and shorter until eventually, I could no longer play at all. After professional advice, I was made aware that my ulnar nerve was compressed somewhere along the length of my arm. Perhaps my wrist or elbow. Resting was not helping. I bought a shorter neck guitar and tried playing my electric guitars more but it was too late. Somehow my ulnar nerve had become permanently compressed and made worse every time I brought my hand to the fretboard.

The end of my guitar playing days?

I could no longer play the guitar and even bringing a fork to my mouth with my left arm would make my ring and little finger feel numb and very weak. I had no grip strength in those fingers and no control of them. It was truly terrible for me. As a guitar teacher I was still able to do a few lessons but with no demonstration. So eventually I had to stop all activities that involved the guitar. This meant my income was now zero except for a few royalties and the main source of pleasure in my life was taken from me. It was not nice!

So after trying everything I could possibly try, I reluctantly faced the concept of surgical intervention as a solution. My local GP was of no use and the NHS were not bothered by the fact my career as a musician was over! I found the best hand and arm surgeon I could and went in for private surgery. My surgeon decided that my ulnar nerve was compressed in the elbow and went about the process of attempting to release it.

Recovery

The day after surgery I was told it was successful. The surgeon had found a tight band of muscle that was compressing the nerve every time I bent the elbow and tried doing anything like playing the guitar.

However, this was invasive surgery and it took the best part of two years to fully recover from. Many years later I was still getting horrible strange sensations in my hand and elbow area whenever playing the guitar. The joy of playing was gone. It was unpleasant and hard work playing the guitar. This lasted several years before I can say that I started to enjoy playing again.

Even to this day my nervous system still very much remembers this horrible experience.

Lessons Learnt

Now I am much healthier. I practise Yoga and make sure my muscles are released and do not become tight. I remember seeing a physiotherapist at the worst point when I had the injury who showed me some stretches that were very painful at the time as my forearms and wrists were so tight from hours and hours of playing without paying attention to stretching (releasing) the muscles. Those same stretches are easy for me now.

The Conclusion

So read and learn fellow guitar players, this stuff does happen, it’s not nice and it’s not fun. Guitar playing is a serious exercise for the muscles in your forearms, and if you do have to change an instrument like I did as the result of a thief! make sure it’s the same scale length. Never suddenly start playing a great deal on an instrument that is ergonomically different than your usual instrument.

After studying the French language now for approximately four years. I have to say it’s one of, if not the most difficult task I’ve ever given myself.

I lived and worked in France for two years and learnt almost nothing all the time I was there. Of course, I was learning, but hearing the native speakers was almost impossible. If you cant hear it, you cannot progress!

Methods

I’ve used most available training methods, Michel Thomas all levels and supplements, Rosetta Stone all levels. I completed all five levels and still was unable to cope with the most basic conversation. I’ve attended several classes over the years which have always left me feeling worse about my ability with the French language than before I attended the class.

The Pimsleur system, I have completed numerous times, but you have to keep going back over and over it to get the tiny little sounds that only after constant repetition do you start to hear without a great deal of effort and it takes up a lot of time! A serious amount of time and effort, But probably has got me closer to speaking and hearing French more than any other method. The Pimsleur method works when you are at the correct stage but I recommend Michel Thomas for general basics without headaches.

Most recently I’ve become addicted to duolingo although sometimes I just want to uninstall it when it tells me its time for my daily practice yet again. It really is a long-winded process.

What I’ve concluded for myself at least is that learning a new language requires years and years of constant practice. Many more years than most language teachers like to admit and far longer than most French people expect you to take. They cannot see the difficulty. I was given time frames like 3 months… that is simply ridiculous. Also, immersion is all very well but not when you can hardly hear a single word anyone is saying to you, and you are trying to earn a living and survive in a foreign country.

Adult vs Child

As an adult, you really can feel how long the struggle is. Children don’t have the same time perspective or expectations and appear to learn languages easily. However, I don’t think that is really the case. They aren’t in a hurry. They have all the time in the world and don’t expect to have advanced meaningful conversations or speak on the phone in French to the tax man!

I put far too much pressure on myself to try and learn the language quickly. Moving to France did not help either as I was under even more pressure to speak the language and I don’t think the brain functions very well when under intense pressure. It is not a good mode to learn in. Not for me.

After putting so much effort into learning the language I am at a point where I simply have to continue, there is no choice.

]]>http://www.steveosman.com/learning-french/feed/11428Living in Marseillehttp://www.steveosman.com/marseille/
http://www.steveosman.com/marseille/#commentsSat, 04 Nov 2017 20:53:48 +0000http://www.steveosman.com/?p=1123The post Living in Marseille appeared first on Steve Osman.
]]>

So, I decided to move to Marseille in 2014.

It’s exciting, It’s dirty, hot and gritty, not clean, not much greenery, plants die, the wind can rip your face off. Rain is huge and wet, the sky is blue, the sun relentless.

Large rats scurry around. The odour of sewage can take your breath away. Mosquitos are everywhere but these are not normal, these are stealth mosquitos ! and they fart in your général direction.

The accent is thick and very hard to understand. The people are colourful and full of character. It’s a melting pot of cultures.

Le Panier

The Panier area of Marseille is unique and full of cafes, shops and bars. Bar Manolo was one of my favourite bars and I had regular gigs there. It was run by Victor and his girlfriend Audrey, two of the nicest people I have ever met in my life. Unfortunately, due to increasing rent costs, the venue had to close.

The Bar Des 13 coins is another venue on the Panier with a large outside seated area where I also played regular gigs. This was much to the annoyance of one particular guy, who appeared to live in some sort of dark and dingy hovel, attached to the back of the bar.

He would regularly do his best to assassinate my performances, by basically acting like a total idiot. Generally trying to get as far under my skin as he could.But he did add to the colour of the whole experience.

Le Vieux Port

I would also play regularly on the Vieux Port. Sometimes this was permitted by the authorities and sometimes not. The law is that street performance in Marseille is illegal. However, they turn a blind eye when they want to. But you never knew. This got to me in the end, and I stopped performing on the street entirely. But it was certainly an experience. Often I would be playing and this guy would turn up on his moped, black suit and winkle pickers, and tell me to stop. “It is Forbidden !” he would tell me. Yeh right, unless of course, it’s not forbidden.

I named him Inspector Clouseau, as I never knew his real name. Or what authority he had to ask me to stop either!. But I would dutifully obey if I was ever asked to stop or move. One time I was attacked by a very unhappy human statue. He took a definite dislike to how much more money I was making than he. Then there were the inevitable drunks staggering into me, or kids trying to steal money from my guitar case.

Although you could not rely on it, the money can be good from a few hours street playing and I was doing well. The problem was what to do with so much small change.

Thankfully I soon realised that the self-service machines in the local Monoprix would happily accept all the change I could throw in them and other than some funny looks from staff, I was able to buy most of my shopping this way.

le temps

The weather conditions were harsh. Being burnt by the sun, and dried out with the strong wind did not help me to want to continue street performance.

Often my fingertips would split open as a result of hours of playing in these conditions. And other times I would be sweating so much in the heat that the pickup system in my guitar would simply stop functioning, as it was drenched in sweat and would short out!

Also on the Vieux Port was the venue La Caravelle where I performed several times.

I recall one time I was asked to play there at short notice and I agreed, but the sky’s opened up with rain that was so staggeringly profuse cars were being abandoned. Roads flooded in minutes.

Taxi companies were not even answering the phone. The concept of walking and also carrying electrical equipment was just impossible, and I lived literally ten minutes on foot from the venue! When it rains in Marseille it’s no joke. It is far more intense than the rain we have here in the UK, but thankfully not so frequent.

I’ve been teaching people to play The Guitar since I was 19 yrs old. That was…cough… some time ago now. A few years ago I decided to stop teaching guitar. I just felt I had dedicated a huge amount of my life to teaching guitar and I wanted to move away from this area entirely. It was stifling my creativity. At the time I was meditating a lot, and something just told me I needed to move away from teaching for a while at least. Actually, this was when I became a yoga teacher, so I had not stopped teaching at all but had changed from guitar lessons to yoga classes.

I think I needed to allow my guitar playing to be a pleasure to me again. It had lost the feeling of being something that took me away from stress and problems, but actually became a job that I did not like. This was no good at all. It is not why I began playing the guitar.

Having said all this I am extremely proud of the decades I have spent teaching and the successes I’ve had. Many of my old students are now guitar teachers themselves and others have gone on to become professional musicians. Very few no longer play the guitar.

So after 5 or so years of not teaching the guitar… I’m actually quite excited to say that I am going to recommence my guitar teaching.

I am looking forward to passing on my experience and knowledge which is now so much more than before. I’ve learnt a lot since I’ve gone back to just playing the guitar for my own pleasure, concentrating on my gigs and on what I need to focus on for myself, rather than my students.

I feel its time to share this with others. Currently, I’m based in the City of Plymouth and available for one to one tuition. Contact for more info.

Update: I am now able to provide online lessons using facetime or skype

Local guitar and musical instrument store Sound Unlimited is as far as I know the only music shop left in Plymouth. Rich Turner is one of the most knowledgeable and helpful music store owners I’ve ever known.

Without fail whenever I’ve had an issue with a guitar or any of my equipment, Rich has been 100% helpful. Many times I’ve needed a job done that other music shops and guitar luthiers in the past would have turned down through either lack of knowledge or just plain disinterest.

I’ve had guitars set up by supposed experts, who have given me back an instrument that is almost unplayable!. However, I’ve had 100% customer satisfaction from this store.

Staff

Rich, his father John Turner, and Paul Mountjoy have always been polite and helpful even when the shop is full of people and chaotic. They have always found time to help me with any problems I may have.

I encourage every musician in the city and elsewhere to support Rich and his crew at Sound Unlimited. They are doing a great job, Priceless!

I have taught yoga now in almost every setting possible. Venues such as Plymouth life centre for two years. Brickfields sports centre also for two years. Nuffield gym, Plymouths only dedicated yoga studio the Yoga Loft (sadly closed now). Classes in church halls. I’ve covered yoga classes at most venues in the city.

I also spent time teaching yoga in Marseille France, twelve months of which teaching at a dedicated ashtanga school.

As a result, I feel I have some experience in the subject.

Teaching Medical Students

This is possibly the most rewarding yoga teaching experience I’ve had. The students are very keen, intelligent and polite. I am very happy that my teaching is having an impact in an area that I feel is of importance. In other words, these yoga students will become doctors or GP’s.

I have always enjoyed teaching yoga, at all the classes I’ve taught. Teaching medical students is different. It allows me to sharpen up on my anatomy and physiology and these classes have also helped me to start something I’ve felt for some time now that could be helpful when teaching yoga classes.

Technology in the Yoga Class

Utilising technology to help demonstrate to students the anatomy of a yoga pose. The classroom contains a projector and screen that I can attach a device to demonstrate a 3D image of the body during a yoga posture. This helps the students to understand which muscles are contracted and released or stretched.

Understanding Yoga Postures

Yoga should be a system for everyone, to maintain healthy body’s and relaxed focused minds, without it appearing like some sort of mystical cult, buried in misunderstanding.

I am often asked about different types of yoga, therefore, I can see many people are confused about what yoga actually is.